Read with a Purpose Read this story to discover how a misunderstandingat school affects the eleventh birthday of a girl named Rachel.

by Sandra Cisneros

don't understand about

birthdays and what they nevertell you is that when you're

eleven, you're also ten, and nine, and eight,

and seven, and six, and five, and four, and

three, and two, and one. And when you

wake up on your eleventh birthday youexpect to feel eleven, but you don't. Youopen your eyes and everything's just likeyesterday, only it's today. And you don't feeleleven at all. You feel like you're still ten.

And you are--underneath the year that

makes you eleven.

Like some days you might say some-thing stupid, and that's the part of you that'sstill ten. Or maybe some days you mightneed to sit on your mama's lap because

you're scared, and that's the part of you

that's five. And maybe one day when you're

all grown up maybe you will need to cry likeif you're three, and that's okay. 2hat's what I

tell Mama when she's sad and needs to cry.Maybe she's feeling three. Q

Because the way you grow old is kindof like an onion or like the rings inside atree trunk or like my little wooden dollsthat fit one inside the other, each yearinside the next one. That's how being

eleven years old is.

You don't feel eleven. Not right away.It takes a few days, weeks even, sometimes

even months before you say Eleven when

they ask you. And you don't feel smarteleven, not until you're almost twelve. 7hat's

the way it is.Only today I wish I didn't have only

eleven years rattling inside me likepennies in a tin Band-Aid box. Today Iwish I was one hundred and two insteadof eleven because if I was one hundredand two I' d have known what to say whenMrs. Price put the red sweater on my desk.

I would're known how to tell her it wasn'tmine instead of just sitting there with thatlook on my face and nothing coming out ofmy month. (ÿ

Characterization What do you learnabout the narrator's personality from the thoughts and feelings sheshares in this paragraph?

) [Read and Discuss] The author has given us a lot ofinformation about what it means to be eleven. What point is shetrying to make?

(ÿ [Read and Discuss] Why does the narrator wish she were 102years old?

VocabuJaÿ'y rattling (RAT lihng) v,: shaking and hittingtogether.

Eleven 247

"Whose is this?" Mrs. Price says, and she

holds the red sweater up in the air for all theclass to see. "Whose? It's been sitting in the

coatroom for a month7

'Not mine;' says everybody. "Not me:'

"It has to belong to somebody;' Mrs. Pricekeeps saying, but nobody can remember. It's

an ugly sweater with red plastic buttons anda collar.and sleeves all stretched out like youcould use it for a jump-rope. It's maybe a

thousand years old and even flit belonged tome I wouldn't say so.

Maybe because I'm

skinny, maybe because she

doesn't like me, that stupidSylvia Saldlvar says, "I thinkit belongs to Rachel?' An uglysweater like that, allraggedy and old, but Mrs.Price believes her. Mrs. Price

talÿes the sweater and puts itright on my desk, but whenI open my mouth nothingcomes out. ÿ)

"That's not, I don't, you're

not... Not mine;' I finally say in a little voicethat was maybe me when I was four.

"Of course it's yours" Mrs. Price says. "I

remember you wearing it once." Because she's

older and the teacher, she's right and I'm not.Not mine, not mine, not mine, but Mrs.

Price is already turning to page thirty-two,and math problem number four. I don't knowwhy but all of a sudden I'm feeling sick inside,

like the part of me that's three wants to come

out of my eyes, only I squeeze them shut tightand bite down on my teeth real hard and tryto remember today I am eleven, eleven. Mama

is making a cake for me for tonight, and whenPapa comes home everybody will sing Happybirthday, happy birthday to you. (ÿ

But when the sick feeling goes away andI open my eyes, the red sweater's still sittingthere like a big red mountain. I move the redsweater to the corner of my desk with myruler. I move my pencil and boolcs and eraser

as far from it as possible. Ieven move my chair a littleto the right. Not mine, not

mine, not mine.

In my head I'm think-ing how long till lunchtime,how long till I can take thered sweater and throw it

over the schoolyard fence, orleave it hanging on a park-ing meter, or bunch it upinto a little ball and toss it inthe alley Except when math

period ends Mrs. Price says loud and in frontof everybody, "Now, Rachel, that's enough;'

because she sees I've shoved the red sweater

to the tippy-tip corner of my desk and it'shanging all over the edge like a waterfall,but I don't care.

"Rachel" Mrs. Price says. She says it likeshe's getting mad. "You put that sweater onright now and no more nonsense"

) ÿ Making Inferences What details in theStory suggest why Rachel feels so strongly about the sweater?

(ÿ ÿ Characterization What do the narra-tor's self-description and speech in this and the previous paragraphtell you about her personality?

(ÿ I Read and DiscussI How do Rachel's thoughts here supportthe inference you made about her strong feelings?

Vocabulary: raggedy(RAG uhdee)fldjÿi torn and in badcondition. : ÿ, ÿ': .ÿ:, !:ÿ/ÿ:: :: :ÿ:::: i ::ÿ:. (:ÿ.:i/ÿ:: : : :"

248 Unit 1. Collection 3

Portrait of a 6irl by Rosa Ibarra.

Eleven 249

"But it's not--"

"Now!" Mrs. Price says.

This is when I wish I wasn't eleven,

because all the years inside of me--ten,

nine, eight, seven, sL'v, five, four, three,

two, and one--are pushing at the back

of my eyes when I put one arm throughone sleeve of the sweater that smells likecottage cheese, and then the other arm

through the other and stand there withmy arms apart like if the sweater hurts meand it does, all itchy and full of germs thataren't even mine.

That's when everything I've been hold-ing in since this morning, since when Mrs.

Price put the sweater on my desk, finally letsgo, and all of a sudden !'m crying in front ofeverybody. I wish I was invisible but I'm not.I'm eleven and it's my birthday today and I'mcrying iike I'm three in front of everybody. Iput my head down on the desk and bury myface in my stupid down-sweater arms. My

face all hot and spit coming out of my mouthbecause I can't stop the little animal noisesfrom coming out of me, until there aren't anymore tears left in my eyes, and it's just mybody shaldng like when you have the hic-cups and my whole head hurts like when youdrink milk too fast.

But the worst part is right before the bellrings for lunch. That stupid Phyllis Lopez,who is even dumber than Sylvia Saldivar,says she remembers the red sweater is hers!

I take it off right away and give it to her, onlyMrs. Price pretends like everything's okay. O

Today I'm eleven. There's a calve Mama's

malting for tonight, and when Papa comeshome from work we'll eat it. There'll be

candles and presents and everybody will

sing Happy birthday, happy birthday to you,Rachd, only it's too late.

I'm eleven today. I'm eleven, ten, nine,

eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, .and

one, but I wish I was one hundred and two.

I wish I was anything but eleven, because Iwant today to be far away already, far awaylike a runaway balloon, like a tiny o in thesky, so tiny-tiny you have to close your

eyes to see it. O

I Read and DiscussI How does this situation connect with theinference you made about Rachel's feelings?

(I) ÿ Making Inferences What does Rachelmean by"it'stoo late"? Make an inference from clues in thestoryand your thoughts about how you might feel in a similar situation.

O IRead and oiscussl How has this birthday ended up forRachel?

Vocabulary itchy:( HCH ee)!ad].: causing a feeling on theskin,that makesyouÿwantto rub 0rsdratch.i ;;:Zÿ.:- - • :ÿ :.:invgibie:tihn VIHZ Uh btiÿli::ÿd].i not::aNie tOi:iÿ:e:;een: :i: :

250 Unit 1. Collection 3